A Kiss
by LightPhyre
Summary: An unexpected run-in with an old friend can be the opportunity Sakura's finally been waiting for... or her worst nightmare...


**A Kiss**

It was a hot day, and the mission had gone as planned. Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi successfully escorted their charge back to the Land of Stones with barely any trouble. The mission had been rated as an A-rank, simply because of the fact that they had been forced to enter unknown territory, and not even the elderly man they had been protecting knew what lurked there.

It was well-known that rouge ninja and people who abandoned their homes and killed their loved ones flew to this eerie region. And it was the perfect place for them, because it was between the borders of almost every ninja village in the world. Scouts and trespassers were never found here because they feared for their lives.

Fortunately, only a few rouge ninja had bothered to attack them, and Kakashi had been able to handle them on his own. Sakura assumed that most of the rouges that lived in these woods would be able to recognize Naruto, though, and that would be a good enough reason to leave them be. His blonde hair was anything but subtle, and after killing Madara, the entire world knew his face and how dangerous he could be when cornered or threatened.

And Kakashi was just asked to be the next Hokage. He said he'd think about it, but Sakura knew he enjoyed being able to have some free time on his hands. And besides, if he was the Hokage, the elders of the village would look down on his preference of reading material. And that was probably the last thing the masked man wanted to have to deal with.

"We should take a break," Naruto said, "We just completed our mission. Why are you guys in such a big hurry to get home?"

"We're not in a hurry," Sakura said, "These woods just aren't very… welcoming. If we stopped here, we'd have to have someone awake at all times to guard the other two. It would be a better choice of action to get out of this region before we stop for a rest."

"But I'm so tired," Naruto said. "We left the village four days ago, and we only stopped to rest twice. I have to stop my eyes from shutting every time I take a step."

"Well, why didn't you say something before we left the Land of Stones? We could have stopped at a motel or something," Kakashi said. "There aren't any villages for miles, and this region is still far ahead of us. It would take at least another half a day's walking to get out of here. And even then, it's another day's worth of running to get back to the village."

"Can't we just find some place to hide?" asked Naruto," Like a cave or something?"

"Naruto!" Sakura reprimanded, "We're in the middle of the woods. You don't really think that there's going to be a cave here, do you? And if there was, we would have seen it the last time we went through this area."

"We'll have to find somewhere that's relatively hidden," Kakashi said, "And Sakura is right about having one of us be a lookout at all times. We'll take one-hour shifts, and we're only staying here for a few hours. Got it?"

Naruto nodded with a smile.

"How about over there?" Sakura asked, and the blonde ninja and her previous sensei followed her pointed finger to a large tree with long, overhanging branches. "It's already kind of shady here, and the sun is about to go down. So, the darkness will be enough to hide us from anyone's eyes, including those low branches. It looks like as good a place as any to me."

"All right," Kakashi said, "You two get some rest. I'll take the first watch and I'll wake you up in one hour." He looked at Sakura and she nodded.

"Right," she said, as they walked over to the large tree. Naruto held one of the branches aside and Sakura walked underneath, nodding her thanks. He then followed after her and they listened to Kakashi quickly climb a few feet up the same tree, probably to get a better view of the area around them.

"I don't know how much a few hours is going to do for me…" Naruto whimpered, and Sakura gave him a reassuring pat.

"It's better than nothing," she said, "And you get to sleep for two hours before your shift, so make the most of it. And you never know. The sun will be gone in less than half an hour, and maybe Kakashi will want to stay put until there's some light in the woods."

"Maybe," he said, lying down on a pile of brush and fallen tree leaves. "It's nice under here," he said with a laugh, and then he closed his eyes. Sakura rolled her eyes before doing the same. And after a few minutes of lying there, listening to Naruto's soft breathing even out, Sakura felt sleep consume her, body and soul.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Sakura woke up to a hand pushing on her shoulder. She didn't open her eyes, but she groaned to say that she was slowly coming out of her drowsiness.

"Come on," Kakashi's voice called to her in no more than a whisper, "I even gave you an extra fifteen minutes. And be quiet on your way out. Naruto is a light sleeper, and it'd be best if we let him get as much sleep as he can. He's the one who needs it the most right now."

Sakura nodded and the opened her left eye. It was dark out. The sun must have gone completely in, but she could feel the masked man's chakra hovering over her, and in the hand that was now being removed from her shoulder.

She opened her other eye and sat up, careful not to make any noises on the dry brush below her, lightly crackling under her weight as she moved. She pushed herself forward on her hands and knees and crawled out through the low hanging branches, listening to Kakashi lying down behind her to get some rest.

She stood when she was out of the protective concealment of the tree and ran her fingers through her soft, pink hair, getting out any of the brush that had decided to stick to her. She found a few pieces of a twig and managed to get them out without pulling too hard on any of her delicate hairs. She then brushed off her red shirt, getting a couple of the leaves off of herself and out of the zipper near her neck and collarbone.

When she was satisfied that she was as clean as she would get, the pink-haired kunoichi stretched her arms above her head, and then jumped up onto a branch of a nearby tree so she could watch her comrades from all angles and effectively make sure that no one would get at them.

A minute went by and she found herself sitting on the branch, her head in her hands and her legs swinging back and forth. The only sounds were those of the crickets and an owl or two. She didn't see how her watching would prevent anyone from attacking them if no one was going to attack them in the first place. And after getting only an hour's worth of rest, she was now feeling quite tired.

Another few minutes went by and her head began to nod. She noticed her fault and shook her head back and forth, violently ruffling her hair with her fingers of one hand. She crossed her legs and straightened her back, but it only turned into another stretch, which made her even more tired. She let out a yawn. Her eyelids were getting heavier by the second, but she couldn't neglect her duties to her team, even though their mission was completed and they were on their way home. She still had to protect them, especially now, when their unconsciousness made them vulnerable.

But then, a sudden crackle from behind made her heavy eyelids feel as light as a feather, and her entire body whipped towards the direction the sound had come from. She poised herself on the branch, not ever realizing that she must have grabbed a kunai from her weapons pouch on the side of her leg.

She wasn't nervous as all, which didn't come as a surprise to her. She knew that most of the rouges and murderers in these woods weren't a match for her anyway. She was more responsive and prepared than nervous. She was more than confident in her abilities to protect the people she cared about.

She jumped down from the tree branch and landed on the ground without a sound, the kunai still lightly gripped in her fist. She looked around and listened carefully, but no other sounds followed the first, so Sakura took the opportunity to walk around the tree where her comrades were fast asleep, checking for traps or genjutsu. There was nothing there, so she strolled back around to the other side.

And what she found made her heart stop, and then violently hammer against her chest like a drum, probably loud enough for the entire woods to hear her.

Red eyes were looking over at her in surprise, and then they disappeared into the darkness. Sakura's her eyes widened. Could it be…?

And the sound of footsteps running in the opposite direction confirmed her findings. She instantly took off after the sound and those familiar eyes, ignoring her rational mind that this could be a trap for both her and her sleeping teammates. But … she had to know if it was really him… and if it was, then she couldn't let him get away.

She pushed herself to run faster when the footfalls began to get farther and farther away, but then she recognized his trick.

"Release!" she called as she ran, making the proper hand sign, and then the sound of running was almost a foot in front of her. She was gaining on him, and the genjutsu had been to trick her into thinking that she was losing him.

When she could hear him barely a foot in front of her, mixed with the pounding of her own feet against the ground and the heaviness of her breathing from pushing herself this hard, she reached out her hand. Her heart hammered faster when she felt her fingertips graze clothing. It made her legs move just fast enough to give her the advantage than she needed. And when she wrapped her fingers around a handful of clothing, she pulled back with her powerful strength, knocking them both onto the ground as she tripped over her own feet from the force of her speed.

She knew that, since she had fallen as well, all he would have to do was stand and flee to get rid of her, so she clung to his clothing with all her might, promising herself that she wouldn't let him go. Not again…

She felt him try to stand, so she pulled him back down. And when he tried to stand again, she pulled him harder, listening to his sharp exhale when he hit the ground.

"What the hell are you _doing_?!"

She froze. That voice… It really was him… It had been over three years since she last heard about him, and over five since she'd heard his voice. She mentally smiled. His voice was a bit deeper now.

And then something cold and sharp was pressed to the base of her neck. And if she knew Sasuke, then she didn't have more than a second to live.

"Stop!" she instantly screamed, "Sasuke, _stop_!"

And he did. She saw his eyes turn red again, the obvious sign of the Sharingan bearing down on her.

" _Sakura_?" he asked, and there was shock in his voice. But not for long, because the force of the kunai against her throat increased, cutting through the skin. "I hope you didn't come here to try and get me to come back to the village again," he seethed, "And I hope you don't think that I'll take pity on you this time. If you keep getting in my way, I won't hesitate to kill you!"

Sakura froze, and then said the first thing that came to her mind. "But… you just did…" she whispered, watching his eyes narrow at her bold, but true, statement. "And I'm not here to take you back… Haven't you realized that everyone has given up on you by now? After the Great War ended and you still didn't come home, you became nothing more than a memory… What happened to you, Sasuke?"

A few moments passed and she felt the kunai being taken off of her throat. She listened to Sasuke put it away, and silently wished that it wasn't so dark, so that she could see his face a little better. She couldn't even tell if it was really him, other than the Sharingan and his voice.

"Go home, Sakura," he said, and she listened to him stand and he began to walk away from her. But she quickly stood and reached out through the darkness and the shadows. She found his arm and grabbed it, refusing to let him go.

"Sasuke, _please_ ," she said, hostile to the tears that were threateningly stinging the back of her eyes. "What are you doing out here?"

He whipped around, yanking his arm away from her and coming an inch away from hitting her with the back of his hand. "Go _home_ , Sakura!" he shouted, and then turned to walk away again. Sakura didn't reply, but she took a step to follow him, and he stopped walking.

"Aren't you going to kill me?" she asked, not knowing what else she could say to make him stay here with her. She couldn't help but feel the pain she had felt the first time he turned his back on her, all those years ago when he left the village for good.

"You know you only have to ask," was his response.

"Sasuke…"

He began to walk again, and it was all Sakura could do but take a few more steps to let him know that she was going to follow him.

"Don't leave me again…" she whispered. And the sound of his light chuckle made her head snap up, her eyes focused on the back of his head.

"You're as annoying as ever, I see," he gently laughed.

"Sasuke… Please…" she whimpered, feeling the tears behind her eyes threatening to burst out without a warning. She tried desperately to hold them back.

"What, Sakura?" he laughed, turning to face her again with the blood-red eyes of his Sharingan still activated. "Let me guess… You want me to come back to the village with you and live happily ever after. But that's not all you want, is it? You want me to come back to the village because you're selfish. You want me to dedicate my life to you. You probably still want that _date_ you've always asked for, don't you?" His laugh became deeper and louder as he watched her with amusement.

"I just… want to be with you…" she said, and the first tear fell down the side of her face. "Please, let me come with you."

"Where?" he chuckled, and then waved an arm around himself, mentioning the woods surrounding them. "I spend most of my time here, now. Is that what you want? Do you want to live the rest of your life out here, just to be around me, Sakura? I've always thought that you were a bit insane, but you're not that stupid. I'll give you that much credit."

"But I will!" she shouted, unable to hide her desperation.

"What makes you think that this won't be any different than last time?" he asked, an arrogant smirk gliding across his lips in the shadows. "It's like dejá-vu. I already denied you once. So why bother asking me again?"

She looked into his eyes with a calm reserve and said, "Because this time I will do anything for you, Sasuke. Tell me what I have to do for you and I'll do it. Please, you won't regret it. I promise." He betrayer tears were now falling down her face without her consent, giving away how pleading she truly was and how alone she felt without him.

Sasuke's head snapped up and to the right, and Sakura jumped at how quickly he had moved. It made her think that he could have easily gotten away from her before… if he wanted to…

And then he started running, and Sakura's legs followed after him without her even having to put a thought to her actions.

" _Sasuke_ , please! _Stop_! Please, _don't go_!" she cried, not bothering to try and hide her tears anymore. And now she saw his true speed, as she could barely keep up with him. Her vision became cloudy and blurred as her tears stung her eyes. ' _Please_ ,' she begged him in her mind, ' _Sasuke, I love you. Please don't leave me again. I'll do anything for you. Don't you know that? How can you leave me again? Please…don't do it… I'll do anything… please don't go. Why are you running away from me? …Sasuke, I—_ '

Her arm was violently grabbed from the right and she was yanked to a stop behind a tree. But the only thing her mind registered was the man suddenly standing still, right in front of her. His body was frozen, clearly hiding from something, or some _one_.

She opened her mouth to say something, but his hand clamped tightly over her mouth. His other arm wrapped around her stomach to make her body stop moving. She would have thought that she couldn't breathe because the hand over her mouth was preventing it, but the closeness to Sasuke made it impossible, even if his hand hadn't been so restricting. His arm wrapped around her body was pressing her chest against his, and she wondered what had made him do such a thing.

"Sakura!" a voice called, and she recognized it as Naruto's. He was calling to her, but why? Her shift wasn't up yet. She had to have at least another half an hour.

"Naruto, don't shout. There could be more." That had been Kakashi, and from what he said, Sakura assumed that something had happened while she was supposed to be guarding them. She mentally apologized, but then she realized why Sasuke was holding her so tightly. If he hadn't known that it was her until she said something, then he must not have known that Naruto and Kakashi were there as well. And the raven-haired Uchiha's chances of escaping from _three_ shinobi were much less than just getting away from her.

Sakura understood.

She gently wrapped her small hands around the wrist of the hand that was over her mouth and pulled him away. Sasuke froze, his Sharingan eyes planted on her, clearly unaware of what she would do now that she could use her voice. She knew that if she called out to the two of them, then they would find her and Sasuke, and their chances of bringing him home were much greater than if only _she_ knew. But, even so…

"Please…" she whispered softly to him, her emerald eyes begging him, "Stay here… _please_ , Sasuke."

And then she gently pushed away from him, greatly aware of how gentle his hand was on her as he let her go. It gave her the worst case of butterflies that she'd ever had in all her life.

She stepped out from behind the tree and began walking over towards her teammates.

"Are you guys all right?" she called, picking up the pace and running to meet them. She understood Kakashi's previous statement when she found three unconscious ninjas tied to a tree not too far away from them.

"Sakura!" Naruto called, bounding over to her. "What happened?"

"Lucky I was still awake when they found us," Kakashi said disapprovingly, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. "And where were _you_ while we were being attacked, Sakura? You were supposed to be keeping an eye out for any threats."

Sakura froze, knowing that Sasuke, not ten yards away, was probably listening intently to what her answer would be. But she knew what she had to do…

"Well, you know, guys… nature calls…"

She watched as Naruto and Kakashi both rolled their eyes at her.

"You picked a great time to go to the bathroom, Sakura!" Naruto shouted, "You're lucky I'm such a light sleeper, or you would've had my _death_ on your hands!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, highly doubting that little piece of information. Even if he was surprise-attacked, Sakura didn't think that Naruto could be killed that easily. And the same went for Kakashi. They were both too powerful, and the ninja tied to the tree to her left didn't look that tough anyway.

"Well, I'm finished now," Sakura said, flinching from the embarrassment she was putting herself through, "So , I'm really sorry. It won't happen again, I promise. You two can go back to sleep now."

"Since you didn't do your job, you get _two_ hours of watch time before you have to wake me up!" Naruto said, and Sakura just nodded, wanting nothing more than for the two of them to just go back to sleep under that tree so she could go see if Sasuke had done as she asked of him and waited there.

Naruto hurriedly rushed to get under the tree branches and back to sleep, but Kakashi took his time, and then slowly turned to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, and Sakura nodded. "Well, I'm going back to sleep now…" he slowly said, heading towards where Naruto had gone. "Make sure you don't do anything… _reckless_ ," he said, before following after Naruto, until he could no longer be seen.

Sakura wasn't an idiot. Kakashi _knew_ that Sasuke was there, and he knew that her wish had been for Naruto not to know about it. She should have expected that, though, seeing as Kakashi's nose was sharper than Kiba', as well as the average ninja hound's.

Sakura didn't hesitate. As soon as the two boys were out of sight, back to resting, she whipped around and raced towards the tree. She had to slow herself down by grabbing a tree branch before she slammed into the large trunk, but when she looked around the other side of it… Sasuke wasn't there.

Not letting herself give up that quickly, Sakura raced into the deeper part of the woods, where she had chased after him before.

"Sasuke," she whispered loudly. "Sasuke!" she tried again, a little louder, but there was no reply but the sounds of the crickets in the night.

Sakura slumped to the ground, not caring that she was getting her light-colored shorts dirty and stained. She let her head fall into her hands and she allowed herself to cry. How could she have honestly believed that he would stay there? How _stupid_ could she have been to think that he'd actually listen to her? Sometimes she just wished that the old Sasuke would come back to her so much that she fooled herself into believing that he could truly be the same Sasuke… _her_ Sasuke.

But a hand on her shoulder changed all that.

Her head snapped up, out of her hands, at the sudden and unexpected contact. And it was him, his blazing Sharingan still enveloping her. She instantly stood, knowing that if he had come back, then maybe she had a chance.

" _Please_ ," she begged him between sobs. She grabbed his arm, her tears continuing to flow. "I'll do anything, Sasuke. Oh, _god_ , please let me come with you!"

"I can't," he said, breaking Sakura's heart.

" _Why_?"

"You have a life. You have a family. If you come with me, you lose all of that, and there's no going back. I will never return to the village, and I can't let you share my fate, Sakura. I'll tell you the truth. This isn't a place for someone like you. I starve out here. I get into fights were my life is at stake too often… I found you three and the only thing I thought of was getting something to eat…"

"If you're so miserable, then why don't you come home…?" Sakura said, but he didn't answer.

She already knew the answer.

"I don't mind. To be with you, I it's worth it. I'm strong. I know it's worth it. I can help you fight. We can go somewhere else and live where you won't be hungry ever again. I promise you. I will take care of you, Sasuke. Please, trust me. You'll be able to count on me. I'll _always_ be there for you."

"I know…" he said softly, and Sakura's stomach tightened in surprise. This was Sasuke. This was _her_ Sasuke… Was it possible that he wasn't lost to her…?

"Please—" she said, one last time, before she was abruptly cut off.

Sasuke leaned forward and gently pressed his mouth against hers. Sakura's eyes widened at first, and then slowly slid shut. She kissed him back, softly. And then she suddenly felt the urge to hold him and never let him go. If she kissed him now, and pooled everything she felt for him into this kiss, maybe he would change his mind. Maybe he would let her stay with him… or maybe he would come home…

But before she could even part her lips and breathe him in, he pulled back. The pink-haired kunoichi opened her eyes in protest, about to try and convince him again, but she looked into those blood-red Sharingan eyes and watched the irises swirl around and around… Until everything went as black as the night that shrouded them.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

"Sakura…" a voice whispered, and her eyelids fluttered open in surprise. She bolted upright and looked around. She was underneath the large tree and it was dark as night. Naruto lay on his side, to her right, fast asleep. Kakashi was kneeling down in front of her. "It's your shift," he said.

Sakura cried.


End file.
